Constancy
by AidennPluto
Summary: Is everything done out of love justified? Keiko and Yusuke think so. Shizuru doesn't. Who knows what Kurama really thinks? And who knows who's really right? Totally AU. KuramaShizuru, YusukeKeiko. Rated for language.


**A/N:** I do not know how this was born. Do not ask me. Not only is there het (gasp!) but one of the pairings is YusukeKeiko. ::groan:: I must have been possessed!

**Pairings: **KuramaShizuru, YusukeKeiko, tiny, eensy weensy, if-you-squint, not-really-there hint at KuramaKuwabara.

**Disclaimer:** Yea right.

**Warnings:** Totally AU. That means no demons, and Keiko's mother is not the one from the anime. Also, please note that this will not have a fluffy, true love/destiny ending. It's not sad though :). Just shows how to some people, there are things that are more important than love.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

"And don't forget to pick up the dry cleaning!"

"Fuck off and die," Shizuru muttered viciously, scrubbing away at the floor.

"What was that?" came the shrill voice of her stepmother, as she stuck her face through the door to glare at her.

"I said I'll also pick up Kazu's tie," Shizuru said politely, bowing her head.

"Alright."

Shizuru's stepmother drew her head back from around the corner and Shizuru could hear her 9-inch heals clanging away on the marble floor in the hallway.

"Don't forget to pay the flower boy when he delivers the roses for tonight's dinner. Do not look at him, and keep that vicious tongue of yours between your mousy teeth! He's a good boy and he'll be marrying your sister, so if you dare scare him off I will have you wiping this house with a toothbrush, you hear me?"

"Whatever."

"I'll not be having you ruin this for your sister, mark my words, girl!" And with that proud threat, Shizuru's stepmother walked out the door, slamming it in her wake.

Shizuru heaved a sigh, and resumed her scrubbing of the floor.

_What's the point in scrubbing these tiles anyway? They're whiter than that bitch's teeth. And that's saying something since she bleaches them about twice a day._

Shizuru was 17. In a year, she would legally be an adult. She would take her little brother, Kazuma, away, and they'd live together in her father's old home. She'd get a job to pay for her little brother to go to college, since she'd never get the chance to go. But until then, she would put up with this.

A plain, thin brown dress swathed around her as she leaned forward and backward, scrubbing away at the perfectly white floors. Yukimura-san would know if she hadn't washed every inch of that floor. She always knew. Shizuru's white blouse was rolled up at the sleeves, and her brown hair was dirty and lanky, hanging around her face like a curtain.

_One year. On more fucking year, and then you'll see who's on her knees, bitch. Father left me the money, not you, and when I'm legally an adult, you'll have to hand it over. Take advantage of me while you still can._

That night, the Japanese ambassador from the Permanent Mission would be coming for dinner. As it was a very important meeting, especially for Yukimura-san's work, everything had to be perfect. Even the flowers had to be the best – freshly picked and cared for by the Minaminos. They were rather known as magicians when it came to plants; every flower in view seemed to bloom brighter around the Minaminos. They were a wealthy family, and their eldest son, Shuichi, was to wed Keiko, Shizuru's stepsister. A perfect marriage between two perfect people, uniting two perfect families.

_A guy who grows pretty flowers – yea sure. Like he's not gay. I hope that one day Keiko finds her husband in bed with another man, that would serve her right. Oh no, mother, I won't ruin it for precious Keiko. _

Drawing the bucket across the floor, Shizuru made her way into the hallway and continued to scrub away. Her arm was cramping, but she'd learned not to pay any attention to it.

_Why would she want to get married anyway? Marriage is just a form of legal imprisonment. Besides, she doesn't love him, she's only got eyes for what's-his-face, Urameshi something._

The doorbell rang, and Shizuru absently got up from the floor.

_No matter how rich he is, it's not worth seeing the same ugly mug the rest of your life on the opposite side of the bed, is it?_

Shizuru opened the door, and proceeded to stare at her feet. _There, see? _She asked her mother. _I'm being perfectly non-threatening. Not scaring the pansy away at all._

"Thank you for delivering the flowers," she muttered quietly, shoving a handful of yen at him and holding her hands out for the flowers.

"Er, sorry. I ain't got your flowers," said a low voice that seemed to be torn between amusement and anxiety. Shiruru's eyes shot up and fell on a young man with dark hair and large brown eyes. He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"I saw that Yukimura-san left, so I thought I'd… drop by."

_Ah yes. This is Urameshi something. Urameshi… Urameshi…_

"Yusuke," the boy said, as though reading her mind. "Is Keiko home?"

"No, she's not." _Ha. _"Can I take a message?"

Yusuke's face fell. "No, I just – I wanted to say hi. So… hi."

"Hi. I'll let her know," Shizuru dead-panned. _I can't understand how she could like this idiot. _

Suddenly, a new voice floated out from behind Yusuke. "Hello, Yusuke-kun. I didn't expect to see you here."

The voice was soft and calm, holding somewhat of a double-timber. A young man walked up to where Yusuke was standing and smiled at him.

"Oh, hey, Kurama. What are you doing here?"

"Delivering some flowers."

It was then that Shizuru noticed the large bouquet of roses in his left hand.

_The flower boy! _Shizuru thought of dropping her eyes, but one look at this guy and she couldn't look away.

He was slightly taller than Yusuke, with large green eyes and long red hair in a high ponytail.

Shizuru's first thought? _Ha. I was right. Totally gay. He looks like such a girl._

Shizuru's second thought? _But damn he's hot! Does that make me a lesbi?_

Suddenly she was very aware of her drab and dirty clothes, hanging from her like a weeping willow. _A long brown skirt that looks five centuries out of date. Yes, that's definitely what I wanted to meet a cute guy in. Great. _

"Here you go, Shizuru-san," the boy said, handing her the flowers with a heart-melting smile.

_How the fuck does he know my name?_

"Ah. Yea, thanks. Here," she shoved the money into his hand and then stared awkwardly at the two boys on the porch. "Um, I'll just go and put these on the table. Somewhere. Thanks. Oh wait, I already said that."

The red-haired boy smiled. "Enjoy the dinner, Shizuru-san. Come on Yusuke. We have homework to do." With an easy hand on his shoulder, he guided Yusuke away from the door. The brunette still had a dejected look on his face.

"Yea," he mumbled. Shizuru caught Shuichi's eye, and they exchanged an understanding look.

"It was great meeting you, Shizuru-san," Shuichi said politely, smiling over his shoulder at her.

"Yea. Great meeting you too." Shizuru closed the door and shook her head.

_Okay. Girly, prissy, and polite, but I'll be damned if I've ever seen a cuter guy. And he actually looks like he might have muscles under all those perfect clothes. Keiko bagged herself a good one._

Shizuru placed the flowers on the table in the dining room, and returned to the hallway, resuming the scrubbing of the perfect floors.

_That little bitch, never satisfied with what she has. Why is she pining over Yusuke when she's got this hunk ready to marry her? And why do I even care? Even if she weren't marrying him, it's not like he would ever be interested in me. The tall girl in 16__th__ century clothing. Ugh. _

She sniffed angrily, and just as she was raising her hand to brush some strands of weedy hair out of her eyes, she noticed something by the door.

It was a red and cream colored tulip, its petals open. Shizuru picked it up and studied it with interest.

_Did he come in again while I was setting the roses on the table, or did he accidentally drop this?_

She stared at the flower, turning it on all sides. _It's beautiful. Radiant. Maybe there is some truth in the incredible Minamino talent with flowers. _She laid it on a table and went back to cleaning the floors, trying to forget about it.

_Did he leave it for me? Why would he do that? Does it mean anything?_

That thought reminded her of a book she'd once seen on her stepmother's shelf; something about the language of flowers and what they represented.

_Does this tulip represent something? Is he trying to tell me something?_

Nah. That was ridiculous. Nonetheless, she raced upstairs to the library and looked for the book. Finding it, she quickly scanned the glossary.

_Tulip, tulip… wait, no, variegated tulip, it has more than one color. Ah, here it is. _She stared at the book dumb-founded. _Beautiful eyes._

_Oh._

She closed the book with a snap and stared at the wall for several seconds. _Beautiful eyes? What? Does he mean me? _Making her way to the bathroom, she stared in the mirror.

A tall girl with a dirty face and even dirtier hair stared back at her. She had a sullen look on her face, her lips thin and chapped. She looked at her eyes. Two big, round, brown orbs stared back at her.

_They're nothing special. Just plain and brown. Che. What a sham. He probably didn't even mean it that way, he just left any random flower. It doesn't mean anything._

_But still, why did he leave it?_

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The next few days were chaos for the Yukimura household. Apparently, the ambassadors were only the first of a long string of influential people to visit Shizuru's stepmother. Next came a minister from some European country, as well as a director of a company in Cambodia, and others. Shizuru dutifully cleaned the house every day.

Fortunately, with the arrival of all these people and their appreciation of the gorgeous flowers at the dinner table, Shizuru got to see a lot more of the flower-boy. The next day, he smiled at her when she opened the door and offered her a bouquet of carnations of all colors.

"So tell me," Shizuru said, offering him the money for the flowers. "Is your name really Shuichi? Urameshi called you something else when you were both up here the other day."

"Kurama. It's… a nickname of sorts."

"Kurama." It tasted spicy. Somehow, it fit him better. "Mind if I call you that?"

The red-head grinned. "Only between the two of us."

"Cool." She very nearly forgot to breathe when he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

_Air, Shizuru, _she reminded herself. _It's that thing you can't live without, remember? Breathe._

"So – ah – about the flower."

"What flower?" the smile was teasing now.

"The tulip you left on the first day. I looked it up. Did you really mean that, or was it just – you know…" Her explanation was vague and her question hard to understand at the very least, but Kurama seemed to have no problem understanding.

"You really do." _Have beautiful eyes._

_Ah, fuck. I don't need condescending compliments. _Still, she felt her face heat up and she wished she didn't have to wear the ridiculous brown skirt. _Why do I wear it anyway?_

"How did you end up working for Yukimura-san?"

_Wake up, Shizuru, he asked you a question. _"Ah, well, my mom died of cancer about a year ago, and my dad felt himself fading fast too. So in order to leave his children in a warm home and loving hands, he married this witch. And since under no circumstances is another man's daughter going to surpass hers, Yukimura-san turned me into her personal servant."

Kurama's eyebrows rose. "And you put up with that? You don't seem the type, if you'll forgive my presumptuousness."

_Your_ _presumptuousness. Goody two-shoes and your big words._

"Yea, well, I just have to deal with this until I'm 17. Then I get the money dad left me, and Kazuma and I can live on our own."

"I see."

Glancing down the street, Kurama stepped down from the porch. "I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yea. See ya."

"Here," Kurama said, handing Shizuru a flower which he'd seemingly brandished from thin air. "Figure that one out."

Shizuru watched him walk away, before closing the door and rushing up the stairs to the library. This flower had tens of tiny burgundy and deep purple flowers attached to a deep green stem. Shizuru didn't know what this flower was called, but she looked through the book on flowers until she came across a picture of identical little yellow flowers.

_Alyssum. Meaning: worth beyond beauty._

Shizuru sat on the floor in front of the bookcase, staring at the flowers absently. _Worth beyond beauty. Hell, that's a roundabout way of saying I'm ugly, right? Or maybe he knows I'm not the type of girl who always needs to be told she's pretty. Worth beyond beauty. He's saying there's more to me than just a pretty face?_

_Ah, that bastard. _

She wasn't even sure why she was annoyed. Then she realized her face was hot, and decided she was mad at him for making her feel like a school girl.

That night, Shizuru was cleaning the dishes from dinner, ignoring the loud voices coming from the dining table. Keiko came in and absently handed her two more dishes. "Thanks," she muttered.

Ordinarily, Shizuru wouldn't have said anything, but this time, she surprised herself by talking to her.

"So I saw your beloved betrothed today."

Keiko blinked as though from a deep sleep. "Huh?"

"You know… Shuichi? The guy you're going to marry."

Keiko groaned and ran a hand over her face. "Don't remind me."

"Why not?"

"I'm trying not to think about it."

Shizuru turned off the water and dried her hands off. "If you don't want to marry him, why don't you just tell your mom? She worships you, you know."

"I've already tried, not that it's any of your business," Keiko snapped. "Whenever I mention it she gets all motherly."

In a high, fake voice that sounded horribly like her mother, Keiko sniffed: "Oh darling, you're so adorably naïve. Don't worry, one day you will see how important marrying a good man is. You'll thank me."

"Well, what about Yusuke?"

Keiko's eyes flashed onto Shizuru angrily. "What about him?"

"Why don't you tell her you want to marry him, not Shuichi."

Keiko seemed to want to say something, maybe to ask how Shizuru knew she wanted to marry him, but thought better of it. It didn't matter how she knew.

"Yusuke isn't like Shuichi," Keiko muttered. "He's… more rebellious, less concerned with school and stuff… and his family isn't rich. Mother would never consider him."

Shizuru frowned. "But you love him." She watched as Keiko flinched.

"Yes. But so what?"

Without another word, Keiko left the kitchen and rejoined the dinner invites. Shizuru was left with her own confused thoughts.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The dinners finally stopped, so Kurama no longer had a reason to deliver daily flowers. This did not stop Shizuru from meeting him whenever she had the chance. It was summer time, so the girls didn't have to go to school, and Yukimura-san was out almost all day.

Keiko often left minutes after her mother, and Shizuru didn't have to ask where she was going. Every day before leaving she would throw Shizuru a timid and thankful smile, for not telling her mother where she was going.

One day, after her mother left, Keiko joined Shizuru in the living room and started dusting the bookshelves.

"What are you doing?" Shizuru frowned.

"Between the two of us, we'll get this done much faster. Then you can come with me."

"Come with you where?"

Keiko threw her a look, and resumed her cleaning.

Several hours later, in half the time it would have taken Shizuru to clean on her own, she and Keiko walked out the door. Shizuru was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt. Keiko was dressed similarly, though she seemed to have forgotten that her hair was the haphazard ponytail she'd piled on top of her head while cleaning.

"Where are we going?" Shizuru hissed.

"Just follow me."

The secret location turned out to be a park. Under a tree, Kurama and Yusuke were laughing together. They looked up as Keiko and Shizuru approached, and Yusuke quickly came over and kissed Keiko on the lips lightly. He glanced at Shizuru in uncertainty, but offered her a smile anyway.

"I thought you two might like to talk a bit," Keiko muttered, and then Kurama took her hand and let her away from the happy couple.

"Wow. My first date," Shizuru said.

"As far as blind dates go, I'd say it could have been worse."

Shizuru laughed, and it felt wonderful to laugh with him. "Did you tell Keiko about… us?"

Kurama's grin was utterly teasing, and it made Shizuru's heart skip a beat. "There's an 'us'?"

"You're the one who said this was a blind date."

"Touché. No, I didn't tell her, but Yusuke might have. He's more observant than I gave him credit for. One look at me and he decided I was in love."

Shizuru felt her face heat up. "Aren't we rushing this? We've only known each other for a few months."

"Plenty of time for me to fall in love."

"Aren't you gay?"

Kurama blinked. "No. Did you miss the part where I said I was in love with you?"

"No, it's just that you look more like a girl than I do."

"I might be bi. Does it matter?"

"Of course not. What does matter on the other hand, is that you're going to marry Keiko."

Kurama stopped walking and stepped in front of her. Shizuru's heart pounded in her throat as Kurama framed her face with both hands. Slowly, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.

Then, he kissed her.

_This isn't half bad,_ Shizuru decided, before kissing him back heatedly. Kurama pulled her closer, and Shizuru felt her body press up against his. It did wonderful things for her libido, but not so much for her ability to breathe.

"No, I'm not," Kurama whispered against her lips.

"What?" she asked, dazed.

"I'm not going to marry her."

"Hmm," Shizuru acknowledged. Slowly, what he said made its way to her brain and she pulled away.

"What?" she demanded again.

He handed her a flower as though he'd always had it in his hand. She had no idea where it came from. It was bright red, with thin tendrils spiking out of the center. "Spider flower," he whispered, before kissing her lightly on the lips again, and walking away.

"Wait!" Shizuru yelled. "What the fuck do you mean you aren't marrying her?"

"Shizuru!"

Spinning around on her heel, she saw Keiko waving at her desperately from the park entrance. She quickly ran up to her. Yusuke was gone.

"We have to go, Mother will be home soon."

"Yea." Shizuru stared at the flower in her hand.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Shizuru stumbled up the stairs and tiptoed to Keiko's room in the dead of the night. Closing the door behind her, she turned on the lights only to find Keiko lying on her side wide awake. Blinking in the sudden light, Keiko sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm glad you came," she said. "I need to tell you something.

"Yea well, so do I. Listen," Shizuru said urgently, sitting down next to Keiko. "K – Shuichi's been giving me these flowers, and they all mean something. I looked up the flower he gave me today. It's a spider flower, and it means _run away with me."_

If Shizuru was expecting this news to surprise of shock Keiko, she was sadly disappointed. Keiko stared at her blankly.

"Run away with me! He wants me to run away with him! That's just plain crazy!"

"Why?"

"What the hell do you mean, 'why'?"

"Why is it crazy? What's holding you back? This isn't your family, you were going to leave anyway when you turned 18. It's just happening a year early."

Shizuru stared at her like she'd grown an extra head. "Where the fuck would we go?"

"Ah, yes, that's what I needed to tell you. Yusuke and I are running away with you guys."

Several seconds of ringing silence followed. Then, Keiko planted a hand firmly over Shizuru's mouth before she could protest in a loud voice that would doubtlessly wake up the rest of the house.

"Listen," Keiko said. "Kurama – you can call him that around me you know – and I thought this through very carefully. And since neither of us is exactly dumb, it's going to work. Yusuke's mom is an alcoholic; most of the time she doesn't even know her ass is attached to her body, let alone who her son's dating. So we can stay in Yusuke's apartment for a while and she won't tell my mom or Kurama's. It'll be very cramped, but we can deal with it. We'll all get jobs, and between all of us it won't be long before we can all move in to a bigger place. We can all be roommates! Then, we can get married too, if we want. And to whom we want."

Shizuru shook her head. "But what about your mom? She'll be devastated! And Kurama's family!"

Keiko waved a dismissing hand. "My mom can deal with it. It's her own fault I'm running away. And Kurama's family will be sad, yea, but time heals all wounds."

"Your mother loves you. She'd be destroyed!" Shizuru pointed out.

"She'll be fine. So come on. Let's get dressed."

"What – now?"

"Yes, now! Come one!"

Shizuru watched as Keiko sprang lightly out of her bed and to her closet. She threw clothes into a suitcase she pulled from under her bed and got dressed quickly.

"You're serious about this?"

"Yes, come on already!" Keiko said impatiently.

"I'm not coming."

Keiko stopped packing. "What?"

"I'm not going."

"Kurama…" she reminded her.

"If he loves me, he'll wait. But I can't do this. Not to my brother, not to Kurama's family – hell, not even to your mother."

Keiko looked at her in disappointment. She ran a hand through her hair. "Fine," she snapped. "Fine. Just don't tell Mother where I am, okay?"

"Fine."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The next day, Shizuru was in the kitchen, making breakfast when Yukimura-san's yell of agony came floating down the stairs. She stumbled down to the phone, clutching Keiko's good-bye letter in a fist. She spoke to the police in rapid tones, breathing hard, tears streaming down her face. When she hung up, she dropped to her knees and cried.

Shizuru stared at her from the doorway of the kitchen, face a calm mask. She'd known it wouldn't be easy for her. But she could offer no comfort to a woman who'd never given her anything despite calling herself her mother.

She left a mug of coffee on the table next to the broken woman.

The police came by and questioned everyone in the household, including Shizuru and Kazuma. Confused, Kazuma's first reaction when the police had come was to yell "It wasn't me!"

Yukimura-san locked herself in her room. Shizuru didn't bother to clean the house that day. Instead she went outside and stood on the porch.

Her heart jumped when she saw Kurama approaching. To her surprise, he was smiling. He sat next to her and offered her a small bouquet of magenta flowers, yellow in the middle.

"You didn't leave."

"I couldn't."

Kurama reached into his pocket and offered her a cigarette. She accepted one.

"You smoke?"

Kurama smiled and lit up both their cigarettes. "Sometimes."

"So what now?"

Kurama blew out a cloud of smoke before smiling at her. "Nothing."

"Nothing," Shizuru repeated around her cigarette.

"Keiko and Yusuke should be happy, though they'll likely get on each other's nerves for the rest of their lives. Yukimura-san should stop making your life miserable since she's only got one daughter left, and you – you will go on to college and take care of your rowdy little brother."

"And you?"

"I'll be around."

Kurama stood up to leave. Shizuru tugged on his pants.

"Hey. Mind telling me what this is?" She held up the bouquet. "Only I'm too lazy to look it up."

"They're everlastings."

"What do they mean?"

Kurama's eyes flashed in the sunlight. "Constancy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she muttered once he left.

"Hey sis," Kazuma said, plopping down next to her. "Any idea what happened with Keiko? Was she really kidnapped like mom insists, or did she run away to be with that asshole Urameshi?"

Shizuru stared in surprise. "How did you know?"

Kazuma snorted. "I ain't a complete idiot. I've seen them at school, and I knew Keiko was supposed to marry that gay redhead." He gestured in the direction that Kurama just left.

"He's not gay," Shizuru laughed. Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "He might be bi though, Kazu, so you still have a chance."

"Shut up!"

Shizuru roared with laughter as her little brother flushed.

"Still though," Kazuma muttered. "Keiko's mom… I don't know how she'll get over this."

Shizuru looked at him and swung an arm around his shoulders.

"You know I love you sis, right?" he said.

Shizuru looked up at the sun and ruffled his hair. _Constancy._

"Yea. I love you too, kid."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

**A/N:** So it started out as a kind of Cinderella-y story, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to write a 'and they all lived happily ever after' story. At some point in life, you realize that the reason fairy-tale endings seem so fake is that they don't exist.

The flower meanings are real, I looked them up. And I'm sure you can figure out what Kurama meant by 'constancy'.

Also, please note that I didn't mean to make out that Yusuke and Keiko made the wrong choice. From their point of view, it was the only one. Shizuru just had a different situation and different priorities.

Review?


End file.
